


Even The Smallest Memories

by DontJudgeMyShips



Series: EXO ChanyeolxReader [2]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Cuddles, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Implied Smut, Joker costume Chanyeol, Parent!Yeol at the end, Red Velvet mentions, SO MUCH FLUFF, Side Xiuchen because I’m trash for Xiuchen, Smol Chanyeol, proposal, smol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-03-19 13:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13705266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DontJudgeMyShips/pseuds/DontJudgeMyShips
Summary: A six-part continuation of I’m YoursA cute relationship with Chanyeol, and a lot of fluff.//The idol dorms in this are actually in the SM building for ease of writing -.-





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna/gifts).



> This is completely, once again and as always, for Anna. At least until she stops stanning Chanyeol as hard as she does. If anything I write ever isn’t for Anna, we’ve fallen out. Which hopefully won’t happen. 
> 
> Yes. 
> 
> Updates on Fridays. 
> 
> Enjoy, I guess?
> 
> X

“5... 6... 7... 8!”  
The song finishes with a jump and a bang, and the boys almost fall on the floor, out of breath.  
“Oh grow up.” You say briskly. “Good rehearsal. You’re beginning to get it.”  
“Beginning to? You’re so cruel!” Jongin complains. “I was definitely the best.”  
“Chanyeol, can I go over a few steps with you?” You say, raising an eyebrow as the boys pack their bags up. Chanyeol nods nonchalantly and wanders over, saying goodbye to his band mates. You pretend to go over a few steps until there’s just you two left, and then you finally grab Chanyeol’s hand from behind and pull him in for a quick kiss.  
“What if one of the members comes back in?!” Chanyeol exclaims in a whisper. You put your hands on your hips and raise your eyebrows.  
“You haven’t told them yet?”  
“No, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Chanyeol pushes his hand onto the mirrored wall behind you and looks down at you, biting his lip and smiling slightly in an attempt to make you kiss him. Instead you duck out from underneath his arm and walk away to get your water bottle.  
“Park Chanyeol, we’ve been dating for four months. I have to come over when you’re alone in the house or only Minseok or Jongdae are there.”  
“And Baekhyun.” Chanyeol grimaces.  
“You told Baekhyun but not the rest of the group?”  
“He guessed.” Chanyeol admits.  
“Oh right.” You pause to take a gulp of water and sigh. “We can tell them together if you want.”  
“How would we do that?”  
“I’ll come to your dorm tonight. We can sit them down and explain.”  
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Chanyeol sighs.  
“Is there a reason you’ve taken so long to tell them? Is there something I need to know?” You ask tentatively.  
“No! No. I just... I don’t want everyone to freak, and I don’t want Junmyeon to forbid it for the sake of the group, and I just don’t want any negative reactions.”  
“So the worst that can happen is they aren’t supportive. They’ll come round!” You say, taking a few quick steps and pushing yourself into Chanyeol’s arms. He picks you up instinctively and you wrap your legs around his waist and lean back, arms around his shoulders. “It’s fine. We’ll tell them tonight and then we don’t have to sneak around. I mean, not around them, anyway. What would your managers say?”  
Chanyeol blows out a quick breath. “I don’t know. I doubt they’d be pleased, but they’d probably accept it as long as we don’t release the news to the fans.”  
“Well then we don’t.”  
“We can’t forever.” Chanyeol raises his eyebrows. “A year, two years, three years, in the future, we can’t hide it forever.”  
“I guess not.” You agree, suppressing your excitement at the fact that he’s looking three years into the future with you. “We’ll tell the boys tonight and deal with that when we come to it.”

“Hey, can I come in?” You ask Jongin as he opens the door. He nods, confused, but opens the door wider with a smile.  
“Hey!” Baekhyun runs over and hugs you. “You haven’t been over in like a month!”  
“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy all Fridays recently!” You laugh, hugging him back.  
Chanyeol comes over and grabs your hand, quickly retracting it and pulling it up to your arm instead. He tugs you over to the sofa, squeezing your wrist gently.  
“Can you all come out here?” He yells, and Minseok and Jongdae appear a few seconds later, sheepishly rearranging their hair. Chanyeol tuts with a smile and sits down on the floor, pulling you next to him.  
“What’s this?” Kyungsoo asked, eyeing you both suspiciously.  
“Um, I’ve been lying to you for a while.” Chanyeol winces and looks at you. You smile a tiny bit and nod, which seems to give him confidence.  
“Um, I haven’t always been alone when you guys have left the dorm, I haven’t always been going over steps when you guys have left the dance practice room.”  
“You’ve been with...” Sehun’s eyes widen and he points between the two of you. Chanyeol nods.  
“Knew it.” Jongin snaps his fingers and points too, nodding sagely.  
“How long for?” Junmyeon asks calmly.  
“Four months.” Chanyeol avoids his gaze. “Are you mad?”  
“Are you happy?”  
Chanyeol puts his arm around you and gives the most adorable smile you’ve ever seen him give, looking down into your eyes. “Very.”  
“In that case, no.” Junmyeon looks at you. “My job as leader is to make sure you’re happy and well-looked after. If that’s the case, well, then I can’t complain. And anyway, Minseok and Jongdae are together and they’re IN the band, so I can’t complain about how you’re dating someone outside of us nine.”  
“What about fans?”  
“We don’t care.” Chanyeol replies determinedly. “We’ll fight that issue when we come to it.”  
“Who else knows?”  
“Close family, Minnie, Jongdae and Baek.”  
“Why didn’t we find out?” Jongin does puppy dog eyes.  
“Well you have now!” You laugh nervously.  
Everyone waits for a moment, and then Yixing almost dives onto you both and hugs you. “I’m so pleased for you!”  
“Oh yeah!” Baekhyun squeals, throwing himself onto you two as well, until you’re both squished under an eight-person cuddle pile.  
“Hey, hey, don’t squish my girlfriend!” Chanyeol exclaims, voice muffled, from somewhere underneath Yixing.  
“Yeah, squish him instead!” You protest, smiling. The boys climb off of you and pull you up onto the sofa between them, leaving Chanyeol on the floor, limbs stretched out, looking slightly flattened.  
“It’s like I have another sister!” Minseok squeals, squeezing you tight.  
“Hey, are you just going to leave me here?” Chanyeol complains.  
“Yes, you’ve been bad. You didn’t tell us.” Baekhyun sticks out his bottom lip.  
“You guessed!”  
“I had to guess, you weren’t going to tell me!”

Later, once most of the boys had gone to bed, Chanyeol turns to you from his begrudgingly offered seat on the sofa, and takes his arm from around your shoulders. You whine at the loss of warmth and try to burrow your feet under his leg by means of payback.  
“Come on, let’s go to my room. It’s warmer there.”  
“No sex on my bed, please,” Sehun calls after you.  
“I’m exhausted,” Chanyeol yawns, pushing himself back onto his bed and holding out his hands for cuddles.  
“No, I have to get home.” You laugh, reaching out to tap the nail of his index finger. He would have used this as an opportunity to snatch your hand from you and pull you down with him had you not been too quick.  
“Too slow,” You sing. “No cuddles for Yeol.”  
“Please? I know for a fact you aren’t doing anything tomorrow because you’re hanging out with me this late.” Chanyeol sits up and attempts the mother of all aegyo’s. Laughing, you dive back onto him, putting your head on his shoulder and curling your hands under his armpit to keep them warm.  
“Hey, they’re cold!” Chanyeol protests.  
“And you’re warm. You’re like a six-foot-five radiator.” You reason. Chanyeol relents, pulling you in a bit closer and placing a kiss on the tip of your nose.  
“See, It wasn’t that bad.” You remind him.  
“It wasn’t. Myeon-hyung was quite good about it, considering.”  
“And you really are happy?”  
“Very very.” Chanyeol agrees. You hide a smile in the side of his neck and breathe in the familiar smell of his aftershave. It comforts you and before you know it, you’re both fast asleep, you curled up in Chanyeol’s arms, one hand wrapped around your waist and the other holding both of yours to warm them up. You’re so asleep that you don’t hear Sehun knocking and opening the door cautiously, his eyes on the floor. When there’s no response, he straightens up and sighs. “I’m sleeping on the sofa then.”

You wake up wrapped in Chanyeol’s arms, a novelty that you’ve only had a few times. He still seems to be asleep, so you sit and trace your fingers lightly over the lines of his knuckles until you feel a small kiss press to the back of your head.  
“Is Sehun here? Sehun?” You ask, raising your voice slightly. There’s no reply, and you look behind you to see his bed empty and the pillows crisp. “He must have slept somewhere else.”  
“Junmyeon has his own room, he might have slept on the floor in there.” Chanyeol sits up and rubs his eyes, yawns, and turns to face you. “I have to tell you something.”  
“You okay?” You ask, slightly concerned.  
“Yeah, I just... We had a discussion with our management yesterday before you came over.”  
“Okay...” You clap your hands to your face. “Oh God, do they know?”  
“No! No, they don’t, no one guessed, the only people that know are our families, and the members. It’s just...” Chanyeol exhales slowly. “They’ve decided that to minimise disruption for a shorter amount of time, we’re all going to enlist at the same time and be gone for two years instead of disrupting our schedules by having some of us gone and not others.”  
“Okay, that’s good!” You say, smiling, trying to hide the dread you know is lurking in your face. “... When?”  
Chanyeol bites his lip and you have a sudden urge to cry. “Yeol, when?”  
“Eight months. We have one more comeback, after this one now, and then... we go.”  
You can’t hide the tears that come next, and Chanyeol holds you, just holds you, and this is so stupid because you aren’t going, it’s not you that has to go, it’s Chanyeol, but you’re pretty sure he’s crying too and that only makes it worse. You’ll have been together for a year at that stage, and he’ll be gone for two years. You’ll miss two years of each others’ lives, bar a few days of visiting, and so much can change in two years, especially two years where your boyfriend is away in the army with no way of getting home...  
“We don’t even need to think about it for another six months.” Chanyeol swallows his tears and tries to smile. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you yet.”  
“No, it’s good, I’m glad you told me. You don’t have to keep it from me, you don’t need risk me finding out some other way.”  
“I guess so,” Chanyeol considers, but you sense that he’s scared.  
“I don’t know...” You bite back your own tears, wipe a stray tear-line of mascara from your face and laugh weakly. “I should have taken this off, I probably look like a mess.”  
“You look beautiful.” Chanyeol reassures you. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

You both walk out of the bedroom half an hour later and find Sehun asleep on the sofa.  
“Hey, Sehun.”  
“Have you two finished so I can go to bed? I barely slept at all in here.”  
Chanyeol laughs awkwardly. “We just fell asleep together. And I told her about our enlistment plans, by the way. You don’t have to hide it.”  
Sehun nods and smiles reassuringly at you. “It’ll seem much closer than it actually is.”  
You nod back, managing to hide the tears threatening to emerge.  
“Come on, you want a coffee?” Chanyeol asks comfortingly.  
“Sure.” You head into the kitchen together, but you feel like you’re walking through treacle. Chanyeol turns to hand you a mug and notices the tears are rolling down your cheeks again. Instantly he sets down the mug and pulls you in for a hug, sliding his back down the fridge until he’s sat on the floor with you curled up in a ball on his lap.  
“Oh, no, what’s wrong?” He asks, and you can hear that he genuinely cares, which only makes you cry more.  
“God, this is so stupid.” You sob, clutching his shoulder as you cry into his chest. “It’s so selfish of me, I know, but God, Yeol, what’s going to happen to US?”  
“Nothing.” Chanyeol says soothingly. “Nothing. I’ll just be gone. We can write to each other, we can see each other if I get leave, but I just won’t be here all the time.”  
You sit quietly for a minute, comforted, but you suddenly think of something else.  
“You want me to look after Toben, or will he go to your parents‘?”  
“No, all the dogs will go to our parents. Jongin’s, and Sehun’s, etc.” Chanyeol bites his lip and gives a sort of half-smile down at you. “Hey, Toben!”  
There’s a little skittering sound of paws, and Toben comes racing around the corner into the kitchen.  
“He’s staying here for a bit. Toben, are you hungry?”  
“What about the dorm?” You question as Chanyeol scrapes dog food into a bowl. “SM can’t leave it empty while you’re all away.”  
“We’ll move into a new dorm afterwards. They’re going to build one. This one will be given to another group. And we’re going to record a few episodes of variety shows in the next few months to be released during our time away.”  
“Ah, okay.” You pat Toben gently and he lifts his head against your hand.  
“Come on, Tobes. Breakfast. Then a walk. Hey, why don’t you come?”  
“In public?”  
“Oh yeah.” Chanyeol frowns. “This is so hard! I just want to go for a walk with my dog and my girlfriend, is that too much to ask?”  
“We can tell the fans when you come back.” You suggest. “That way if it’s been three years, people will know we’re serious about the whole thing.”  
“Good idea. I’m just... ugh, I hate having to sneak around!”  
“Why don’t you tell your management?” You ask.  
“Not yet. In a couple more months. Then maybe they can release a statement when enlistment is over.”  
“I hate sneaking around too, but I have to go home to shower and make sure I haven’t been robbed, and then I’ll see you tomorrow for practice.”  
You kiss Chanyeol quickly, before he can protest, and go to let yourself out, greeting a few of the members as they emerge from bedrooms and bathrooms.  
“I’ll see you all for practice tomorrow,” You repeat to them. “No being late!”  
They all groan but laugh quickly and wave you goodbye. You walk fast down the hallways, avoiding other people, and leave the SM building before anyone has noticed you were there in the first place.  
Stepping inside your flat, you shut the door behind you and check your phone when it buzzes.  
“You left your charger. I’ll drop it around after lunch, I have performance rehearsals in half an hour xxx”  
You slap your hand to your forehead and text back “You can’t, I’m going out with friends this afternoon. I’ll get it from you at practice tomorrow and borrow one xxx”  
There’s a few moments, and then a ping alerts you to Chanyeol’s reply.  
“I’ll drop it round at nine tonight. That’s as early as I can, sorry xxx”  
“It’s fine, don’t worry. I’ll be here then xxx”

“Thank you so much!” You say at the door. “Run back quickly, before someone sees you here.”  
“Sure.” Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, looking around anxiously, and leans in to press a quick kiss to your mouth. “Don’t worry, I think we’re safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turns and jogs back down the hallway as you close the door.  
Neither of you had seen the camera flash from around the corner as he had kissed you.


	2. Chapter 2

“Chanyeol, pick up the fucking phone.” You growl, near tears, as you stare at your laptop screen, open on your bed from where you’d picked it up minutes earlier.  
“Hey! I didn’t think you’d be awake. It’s barely dawn.”  
“I only just woke up. Chanyeol, we have a problem.”  
“Hm?”  
“Open your laptop. Search your name.”  
You can hear faint clicks as he does so, and then there’s a gasp and a muttered “shit”.  
“Someone took a photo of us last night when we kissed.”  
“How? I checked the hallway both directions -“  
“It was dark, you might not have seen anyone.”  
“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry - I’m so, so sorry -“  
“It’s not your fault.” You say, tears starting to roll down your cheeks.  
“It is, I didn’t check, I came over -“  
“Chanyeol!” You say sharply.  
There’s a moment of silence, and your voice when it comes again is soft.  
“It wasn’t your fault. It was both of us. We took a risk. And now we need to sort out what we’re going to do.”  
“I’m not losing you over a photo. How can it be confirmed it’s me?”  
“They don’t know who I am, but they know it’s you because they have photo evidence of your tattoos.”  
“Fuck.”  
“I’m not losing you either.”  
“Hang on - I have another call. Sorry, it’s my manager.”  
You wait nervously while he disconnects and he makes you jump when your phone rings again.  
“My manager wants both me and you in a meeting at eight a.m.”  
“Oh, God, Yeol! What do we say?”  
“We say that we’ve been dating for almost four months and we were planning on telling management when we hit six months. And that we aren’t going to break up over a photo because I love you.”  
The lump in your throat is replaced with tears of relief. “I love you too.”  
“I thought you would break up with me.”  
“I thought so too.” You sniffle. “But we won’t.”  
“We won’t.” Chanyeol confirms, and you can hear his smile. “Neither of us are going anywhere.”

You meet Chanyeol outside his dorm. He’s dressed in a suit and tie, you in a smart black dress you haven’t worn since high school. It’s slightly too small and the tightness only adds to the nausea creeping up your throat.  
“You ready?” He asks, and you nod. Together, you walk to the meeting room just down the hallway and knock on the door.  
“Come in.”  
There’s five people in there: EXO’s manager, three assistants, and Lee Soo-man himself.  
“Mr Park. And the girl from the photo?” Lee Soo-man checks coldly.  
You both nod.  
“You are?”  
Forcing yourself to speak confidently, you lift your neck and state your name as politely as you can.  
“You’re one of our new dance teachers and choreographers.”  
You nod again, and sit down when he points to a seat. The plastic is harsh on your legs as you control the shaking in your knees.  
Chanyeol talks for the best part of an hour, insisting and repeating what he had said to you that morning. That you weren’t going to break up, and that he wanted an official statement released announcing who you were and that you were together. Lee Soo-man stays largely silent, frowning, while Chanyeol and his manager argue. Finally, he leans forwards in his chair.  
“I have heard enough.” He interrupts sharply. “Mr Park, a statement will be released. I must allow you to stay together, as some of your band members have also previously been in relationships. But I am not pleased that you were planning to wait so long to tell management.”  
“Yes, sir. Thank you, we apologise.”  
You copy his words in thanks, and the two of you leave the room at his dismissal.  
“We can stay together.” You repeat. “Thank you for fighting so hard for that.”  
“I’m not losing you over a fan photo.” Chanyeol answers firmly, and bends down to kiss you. You start crying as he walks you back to the dorm.  
“Hey, don’t cry. Are you happy with this whole thing?”  
“Very happy.” You nod. “I just can’t believe... and we only told the members two days ago. It’s all been so fast, and now it’s done, we don’t have to worry any more.”  
“We don’t.” Chanyeol repeats, a smile in his eyes. “But we do have practice in half an hour, and we can’t be late. I’ll run you home so you can get changed and meet you then. Or you can come back to the dorm?”  
“I’ll come back with you. I always leave dance gear in a locker downstairs and get changed just before.”  
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I’m sort of in shock!”  
“So am I,” You giggle through drying tears.  
“Come on.” Chanyeol takes your hand gently and squeezes your fingers between his. “Come with me to get changed really quickly and then we can go to the practice rooms.”  
“I’ll go get my stuff and come back up.”  
“Okay.” Chanyeol wipes a last tear from your cheek and gives you a quick kiss, then disappears around the corner. 

Hurrying back to knock on the door a few minutes later, your gym clothes wrapped up in your bag, you stop for a moment and look around out of instinct, before reminding yourself that you don’t need to hide your relationship any more. Your face splitting, you push open the door to the corridor and knock on the door to the dorm.  
“Hi! Come in!” Minseok welcomes you excitedly. “Chanyeol’s been telling us about the meeting.”  
“I have.” Chanyeol stands up and does what can only be described as a bear hug. For ten seconds, you’re enveloped in warm arms against a warm chest, before he turns you around and hugs you from behind as the members talk to you both about the statement.  
“Oh! Oh! Yeol!” Baekhyun holds his phone out. “The statement’s up!”  
The ten of you rush to look at the post SM had put on Instagram. It’s a simple block of text, written in Korean, Chinese and then English, but the meaning is still the same.  
“... the two were childhood friends and have been a couple for four months.” You read. “What are fans saying?”  
Everyone pauses.  
“You really want to know?” Jongin asks nervously.  
“Yes.” Chanyeol sets his jaw and nods.  
“Most of them are being nice.” Jongdae attempts.  
“... but there were always going to be mean comments. We understand that.” Chanyeol squeezes you closer. “We’re going to go get changed now and then go down to the practice rooms. We’ll see you guys in twenty minutes.”  
You get changed quickly and then lie on Chanyeol’s bed, cuddling Toben, who’s perched on your lap licking your fingers, while Chanyeol rummages through his drawer to find his trainers. He had deemed the four pairs he’d already taken out ‘unacceptably worn down’.  
“Yeol, use that pair,” you whine. “We have fifteen minutes.”  
“I won’t be that long!” He complains back, but continues to rummage. “Aha!”  
“Come on then, put them on and let’s go. We need to be quick, before any other idols see us.”  
“No we don’t.” Chanyeol reminds you. You shoot him a smile and refresh your Instagram page. You’ve gained dozens of follower requests in minutes; but what did you expect? You’re publicly dating an idol, you were always going to get attention. You just didn’t expect so much. You find yourself suddenly very conscious of the friends you have; the family members in your photos, the things you’ve posted. Your account is private, only close friends and family, so you turn off request notifications and ignore the app.

Chanyeol’s version of ‘Waiting for the members in the practice room’ turns out to be a ten minute make-out session with your back against a floor to ceiling mirror until you have to stop him from fucking you there and then. You push him off with a ‘later’ just as the members can be heard outside. Quickly rearranging your hair, you greet them with little bows and ignore the looks of longing Chanyeol is giving you.  
“Today is only supposed to be a refresher session for some of your songs. I have a list here, but if we get through them quickly I might be able to add a few to the list.”

You do, in fact, work through all of the dances on the paper very quickly. After allowing them to sit down and rest for a moment on the sofa in the corner, you beckon them back up and step towards Chanyeol, placing a little kiss onto the corner of his mouth. He grabs you before you can react and pulls you in for a proper kiss.  
“Jesus, that’s still taking some getting used to.” Sehun mutters from behind you. You flap a hand backwards to hit him but he dodges easily, laughing.  
“If the fans have to, you have to.” You giggle. “Right come on, everyone up!”  
Chanyeol gives a comical groan and stretches himself out.  
“Do I have to?”  
“Yes, you lazy thing.” You nudge his side with your foot and step back before he can capture your foot. You allow him to grab your hand to pull himself up but misjudge the movement and get pulled, squealing, back to the floor, your comical wail of protest interrupted by his mouth on yours.

“So, we’ve been together four months today.” Chanyeol says two days later, smiling goofily at you from behind a bouquet at ten a.m. “I know some people might think it’s a bit odd, but I think it’s something worth celebrating because we’ve also just been announced.”  
“I think it’s adorable!” You answer, taking the roses and bringing Chanyeol in for a hug, breathing in the familiar scent of warmth and coconut shampoo. “Happy four months to you too.”  
“Come here.” Chanyeol plants a gentle kiss onto your mouth and enters the training room. You’re between two sessions with six new trainees and they watch, frozen with excitement and chattering hurriedly from the corner of the room.  
“And anyway, who said we were a normal couple? We slept together two days after meeting for the first time in ten years and an hour after becoming a couple.”  
“Also three times in this very training room.” Chanyeol adds.  
“Exactly! How many couples have done that? Especially where one or both of them is a famous idol?”  
“I could tell you a few rumours I’ve heard about a few people.” Chanyeol smirks devilishly.  
You slap him lightly, gasping scandalously, but then lean in. “You will, of course, be telling me who later.”  
“Do you expect anything less?”  
Your conversation is interrupted by a small voice behind you.  
“Um, Chan - Chanyeol oppa?”  
“Yes?” Chanyeol smiles kindly down at Miyoung, a tiny trainee who can’t be more than twelve.  
“Can we - can we all have your - your autograph, oppa?” Miyoung asks haltingly.  
“Yes, of course.” Chanyeol bows to each of them as they offer pieces of paper and then scurry away, exchanging hushed words of delight.  
“I have to get back to training.” You sigh, reaching up to kiss him again. “I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay, I need to get back to vocal practice.” Chanyeol meets your mouth again and you whine when he pulls away. “It’s okay, I’ll see you tonight. Meet me at our dorm about seven.”  
“Sure. I love you.” You call after him.  
“I love you too.” He answers, and you push the door closed behind him.  
“Miss, is it really true that you two are dating?” Miyoung asks excitedly.  
You laugh awkwardly. “Yeah, SM released a statement a couple of days ago, did you not see it?”  
“Yeah, but you’re dating Park Chanyeol! It’s so unbelievable - it’s like a dream!” Another trainee interrupts wistfully.  
“Yeah, I guess it is.” You smile absent-mindedly at the door. “I guess it is.”

You run home to get changed and shower before meeting Chanyeol. You knock on the door at exactly seven o’clock, and he opens the door a second later.  
“Follow me. Don’t ask where we’re going, I want it to be a surprise.”  
To your confusion, he heads in the direction of the staircase up instead of down.  
“Wait, we’re going upstairs?” You ask.  
“No questions!” He tuts, smiling cheekily down at you. “Surprise, remember?”  
You fall into a comfortable silence, swinging your clasped hands between you as you make your way up. Chanyeol hums a gentle melody and occasionally asks which note sounds better.  
“Are you writing more songs?”  
“A couple. They want some for the new comeback, so Jongdae and I are working on one, and I’m helping Yixing with the other.”  
“Sing some of it for me?” You plead, squeezing his fingers lightly and pulling a babyish aegyo. Chanyeol gives an indulgent smile and starts to rap in a low, clear voice.  
The words are finished by the time you reach the top of the stairs. There’s what appears to be a fire door in front of you, but it has a handle instead of a bar.  
“Cover your eyes.” Chanyeol instructs. You obediently put your hands over your face and feel him kiss you.  
“Ah ah ah, cover your eyes again. That was just for me.” Chanyeol chides. You giggle and hear the door open, a cool April breeze blowing your hair back.  
“There’s a step down here, be careful.” Chanyeol guides you through the door and onto what you perceive to be the roof. But when he pulls your hands from your face, you see it’s actually the roof garden, with strings of lights hung from the covered terrace and what seems like the whole of Seoul stretching out beyond them.  
“Oh, wow, Yeol.” You breathe, taking slow steps across the grass towards the edge of the roof. A tall glass fence that reaches up to your chest protects you from falling as you rest your arms on the top.  
“I kept forgetting to bring you up here.” Chanyeol joins you, one hand running softly across your back and the other on the fence.  
“It’s beautiful.” The sun setting casts a beautiful peach glow over the garden and the whole of Seoul seems lit up in a mixture of orange and pink. The wisps of cloud are tinted with sunset and the fading daylight.  
“I bought food.”  
Your attention is diverted. “Food?”  
“Food.” Chanyeol confirms, beaming. “Look!”  
He swings his backpack onto a nearby bench, producing a plastic box.  
“Tuna gimbap. Your favourite. And some galbi.”  
“Oh, I love it!” You lean forwards and his mouth lands clumsily on yours. “Thank you.”  
“Soo helped me, but I made it almost all by myself.” Chanyeol says proudly, beaming. “Come and sit down.”

The sun has fully set by the time you’ve consumed the food, and the hanging lights are the only thing illuminating the table.  
“That was the nicest gimbap I’ve had in a long time. Soo and you will have to teach me. I’m awful at cooking.”  
Chanyeol looks at you for a second, a smile forming on his face. “Stand up.”  
You obey, confused. He taps a few things on his phone and a slow melody drifts out of the speaker.  
“I might not be the best dancer of the group, but I can do swaying to slow songs.” He holds out his hand in some form of bow and a smile spreads gently across your cheeks as you take it.  
“Quietly close your eyes... you look happier...”  
His hands find your waist, but your chin can’t quite reach his shoulder, so you settle for snuggling against his chest as you move softly to the music. You look out across the bright lights of Seoul and listen to his steady heartbeat, bumping against your cheek.  
“Chanyeol?”  
“Hm?”  
“I love you.”  
You can hear the smile on his face as he replies. “I love you too.”  
As you gaze at the horizon, eyes tracking a plane that moves slowly across the clouds, and think just how lucky you are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they listen to at the end is Since I Met You by Huh Gak. I heard it in Andante and fell in love with it!
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hww5B_2pWA


	3. Chapter 3

The screams of the crowd filter into your ears as you follow EXO’s manager through the corridors of the studio. The boys are getting ready to perform their latest song for a taping and when you reach their waiting room they’re all stretched across chairs, limbs dangling loosely as they do vague vocal warm ups.  
“Hey, Chanyeol?” Baek calls, grinning, as he sees you.  
“Yeah?” Chanyeol asks, then gasps. “You didn’t say you were coming!”  
“I don’t have any classes left today. I thought I’d come down and say hello between your schedules.” You watch as he slips off his stool and go straight into his hug.  
“Yay! I usually just chill before tapings. We’ve had a rehearsal already so we’re going on in five minutes.”  
You look around the room as you cuddle up with Chanyeol on the sofa. Jongin and Yixing seem to be practicing their dance with Kyungsoo, Baekhyun is staring into a mirror as he perfects his eyeliner and the rest of the boys are scattered about the room.  
“Boys, we need you on in three.” Their manager calls. “We need a quick earpiece check.”  
“That’s me.” Chanyeol pecks you on the end of the nose and stands up.  
“Good luck!” You encourage him. “You’re going to do great.”  
“You’ll watch on the screen?”  
“Absolutely.” You give him a final kiss and push him out of the door. “Go!”

A few minutes later, you wander into the corner of the room and make yourself comfortable on a stool. A large screen shows them walking onto the stage, their voices coming quietly from a hushed speaker.  
“They’re doing well.” Their manager nods approvingly, watching beside you. “They work hard.”  
“I’m very proud of them.” You agree. “If you’d seen Chanyeol growing up, you’d barely believe how much he’s changed.”  
“I’ll leave you to watch.” The manager retreats.  
The members start to talk to the crowd as the cameras set up.  
“How are you all today?” Junmyeon asks. “Have you eaten?”  
The crowd screams back varying answers.  
Chanyeol starts rapping halfway through the song, his eyes firmly trained on the camera that broadcasts his face to you. His voice is clear and deep, the lyrics fast but steady. You know instinctively that he’s rapping straight to you, and you can’t stop your smile from taking control of your face. 

They leave the stage at the end of the song, waving and bowing to the fans, and you hear them coming down the corridor a few seconds later, laughing happily at the successful performance.  
“We have to get changed quickly; we’re going to a photo shoot in an hour.” Chanyeol says apologetically.  
“I’ll leave you to do that. I’ll see you later!” You kiss him quickly and turn to leave.  
“Hey, don’t go yet, just wait outside. I want to check something with manager.”  
“Sure.” You wander back and forth in the corridor, waiting, and he emerges five minutes later, dressed and ready, the rest of the boys behind him.  
“Manager says you can come to the photo shoot to watch!” He informs you excitedly. “You coming?”  
“Seeing my boyfriend dressed in various attractive outfits for the afternoon?” You pretend to consider for a second and then laugh. “Of course!”

You’d gotten a bus to the studio, so to be able to travel with Chanyeol and the members in the car is a welcome luxury. You share a set of earphones with him and joke with Yixing as the hour-long journey drags on. The three of you are sat on the backseat, while Baekhyun naps in the middle of the seats in front, Jongin and Sehun either side.  
“I have a game.” Sehun’s eyes light up as he turns around in his seat.  
“Does it involve Baekhyun?” Yixing asks.  
“The road is quite smooth, and we aren’t going that fast. So we see how many piece of paper we can balance on his head before he wakes up.”  
“Really?” Jongin sighs. “Ah, sure. I like annoying Baek. Pass me some paper.”  
Each of you receive a sheet of paper from Sehun. “Tear it into little pieces. Yixing, you go first.”  
It takes you one and a half rounds before Jongin balances one slightly awkwardly and It skitters down Baekhyun’s face. He opens one eye and starts to rub his cheek before turning to Sehun.  
“Go back to sleep.” Sehun soothes. “We aren’t quite there yet.”  
Baekhyun shuts his eyes instantly, the small pile of paper shifting minutely. You wait a minute for his breathing to even out and breathe a sigh of relief.  
“Does that count?”  
“None fell off apart from mine.” Jongin shrugs. “Let’s keep going, this is fun.”

“SEHUN! YEOL! YIXING! WHY ARE THEIR PICTURES OF ME ASLEEP WITH PAPER ON MY HEAD ON YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS?”  
“I think he found out.” You whisper to Chanyeol, trying to contain your laughter as Baekhyun storms into the makeup room from getting changed. He’s shaking his phone so hard that you think he might drop it.  
“We were bored.” Sehun shrugs. “I came up with a game.”  
“Was it Jongin and you, too?” Baekhyun accuses, spotting you hiding your laughter behind Chanyeol.  
“Maybe.” You dissolve into giggles.  
“I can’t blame you, Sehun can be persuasive. But the boys should have known better!” Baekhyun scowls at them, turning to Sehun. “Evil maknae, evil maknae.”  
Sehun just cackles like a witch and flicks his arm as he walks past.  
“Right, Chanyeol and Minseok, you’re up first for the shoot.” The photographer beckons them into a corner of the room, next to a window, and you sit back nearby to observe as she orders them into different poses and occasionally calls for a makeup adjustment.  
“Damn, Park.” You mutter as he looks up from under long lashes and puts his hand on the windowsill, taking almost all of his weight on it as he lifts a foot slightly, puts it back, turns around to lean against the glass.  
“Right, you’re done, thanks. I need Jongdae and Kyungsoo now.”  
“That looks boring as hell to do.” You remark as Chanyeol wanders back over, scratching at a fake tattoo on his neck.  
“Trust me, it is.” He rolls his eyes and collapses into a chair. “It’s also quite tiring, actually. I feel I could nap right here.”  
“I won’t stick paper on your head if you do,” You tease.  
“I can’t promise anything.” Jongin calls from a little way behind you. Chanyeol jumps up and runs at him, arms outstretched, as you burst out laughing.  
“Aha! Try and catch me!” Jongin dodges and bolts in the opposite direction. “Too slow, Park!”  
Chanyeol trips on his own feet and crashes to the ground, you and Minseok now in hysterics. Junmyeon races over to stop Baekhyun from diving onto Yeol’s back and Kyungsoo looks around in confusion as he returns.  
“If we’re killing Chanyeol, I’d quite like to help.” He tells Junmyeon as Chanyeol struggles to his feet, also laughing.  
“No one’s killing Chanyeol! Stop trying to kill my boyfriend!” You protest as Chanyeol bumbles back over to you.  
Your phone buzzes in your pocket and you quickly grab it. “Ah, no - I’m needed at work.”  
“What?” Chanyeol asks. “Don’t go!”  
“I have to.” You wince. “Haneul has a family emergency. I have to go cover.”  
“Really?” Chanyeol makes puppy eyes and you almost type out a message of refusal.  
“No, I have to. They’ll have my job if I don’t. I’m still technically working, but I dodged down before anyone noticed.”  
Chanyeol whined and pulls you in for a last kiss. It lingers perhaps slightly too long, as within a minute Jongin and Jongdae have started pelting you both with bits of paper rolled into balls.  
“Alright, alright, you’ve gotten rid of me,” You laugh, batting away one aimed at your head. “I have to go. I’ll see you later. What are you doing?”  
“Um...” Chanyeol thinks for a second. “This is until about seven, and then I’m going shopping for something for my mother’s birthday next week. I’ll forget if I don’t go soon.”  
“You’re awful at buying presents. You want me to help?”  
“Yes please!” Chanyeol looks down at you gratefully. “It’s useful you and Mom get along so well.”  
“She’s a better version of you,” You tease, poking him lightly on the cheek. “And she cooks for me.”  
“I’ll be at your flat for eight thirty.” Chanyeol promises. You smile, kiss him again, and leave to a chorus of goodbyes, trying to work out which train to get on to head back.

“It’s me,” You hear yelled through your front door a few hours later.  
“Just coming!” You yell back.  
You open the door to find Chanyeol devoid of makeup and dressed in a huge hoodie, so big it would reach your knees, and jeans, his face partially covered with a scarf.  
“Hey, let me grab my phone.” You turn away momentarily. “Come on in for now.”  
Chanyeol steps inside as you search through your bag. “Ah, here we go. Will the shops still be open?”  
“They do late shopping on Fridays. And I though we could make an evening of it and get food at that new market stall!”  
“Okay, but we can’t get distracted. We’ll get a present first. Any ideas?”  
You bounce ideas off of each other as you wander down street after street, staring into shop windows. You almost have to restrain Chanyeol as he sees a jacket he wants, but allow him to get it later after he pleads for a moment.  
“Oooh, wait, does your mom like jewellery?”  
Chanyeol thinks. “She wears earrings a lot.”  
“Okay, sure! There’s a shop just around here. There’s loads of nice jewellery there, I’m sure we can find something!”  
It takes ten minutes of wandering through back streets before you spot the shop, half-hidden behind a food stall.  
“Look, here!” You run excitedly towards the glittering displays, shining with light caught from the street lamps. Chanyeol follows you, smiling slightly at your excitement.  
“Come on, they don’t close for half an hour.” He takes your hand and tries to tug you gently away from the glass. “If you really like anything, I’ll see if I have enough money for two presents today,” He tempts, and you’re following him immediately.

Twenty minutes later, you were still unsuccessfully hunting through rows of earrings.  
“Found anything?”  
“No,” Chanyeol huffs. “And it’s getting later.”  
“Does she like dangly ones?” You ask desperately.  
“I think she prefers studs.” Chanyeol tangles his hand through his hair.  
“Oooh! Maybe something like that?”  
You hold up a silver pair of delicate knots studded with tiny diamonds.  
“Yeah, like that!”  
“We have a range of these, in various designs and sizes.” The shop assistant offers, stepping forwards. “Would you like to see them?”  
“Yes please, that would be wonderful.” You accept gratefully.  
“Excellent. Please wait here while I collect them from the stock room.”  
You wander around the edge of the room and stare at various necklaces, Chanyeol tapping on his phone.  
“Ahh, Chanyeol! Look!”  
You’ve pressed your face to one of the display cases so closely that your breath has steamed up the glass.  
“Which one are you looking at?” He asks, trying to follow your gaze. You point wordlessly at a simple silver chain with a small infinity sign pendant, studded with more tiny diamonds.  
“Isn’t that an eternity symbol?”  
“I think so.”  
Your reverie is broken by the return of the sales assistant. She holds out several pairs of similar earrings and you muse over them while Chanyeol picks a pair, but you can’t stop your eyes from wandering back over to the necklace.  
“Okay, we’ll take those.” Chanyeol points to the chosen earrings just as your phone rings.  
“I’ll go outside for this. I’ll just be a second.” You squeeze Chanyeol’s arm and step onto the street.  
“Hey, you okay?”  
As your friend takes you through plans for a night out the next week, you notice Chanyeol has left the shop, gift bag in hand.  
“Okay, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” You turn off your phone. “You got it?”  
“Yep! We’re all good.” Chanyeol dangles the gift bag and leans in towards you.  
“I bought you that necklace.” He whispers into your ear, so quietly you aren’t sure if you heard him right.  
“You what?!”  
“I bought you that necklace you liked.” He repeats, smiling widely.  
“You didn’t!”  
“Here you go.” He answers, pulling a second box out and handing it to you.  
“Yeol, you didn’t have to do that!”  
“I know, but I wanted to. For you.” Chanyeol bites his lip absentmindedly and ruffles his hair, and you secretly think it’s the most attractive thing you’ve ever seen him do. “I want to give you every present you want before I leave.”  
You dive onto him, him staggering backwards slightly with a surprised shout and a burst of laughter.  
“I love you.” You hear him say, and as you repeat his words he takes the necklace from your hand and goes to clip it around your neck. You lift your hair obediently and feel the cold weight of it land on your throat.  
“You want to get food?”  
“No, it’s getting a bit colder, and I freeze very quickly.” You shiver slightly in the October breeze to make your point and he laughs.  
“Okay, we’ll get home. My place or yours?”  
“Um... mine. You barely ever sleep at mine. Do you have a schedule tomorrow?”  
“No, just the Halloween party in the evening. Yours is good.” Chanyeol gives you a quick kiss and intertwines his fingers with yours. “What are you coming as?”  
“You’ll find out tomorrow,” You reply cheekily. “Unless you tell me what you’re going as?”  
“How about we’re surprised?” He reasons. “Even I don’t fully know, there’s going to be pretty much every single SM idol there. I need to make sure my costume idea hadn’t been taken.”  
“Don’t say that!” You gasp, and then add: “I’ve never been to an SM Halloween party before. It won’t be weird, me going?”  
“No, you’re my plus one. Manager-Hyung allowed it.”  
“If you’re sure...” You answer cautiously, and make your way down the street with your hands clasped between you. 

“Happy Halloween!”  
You open your front door to see the Joker stood before you. He has his hair sprayed white, red and black makeup smeared expertly across his face and he’s dressed in a tweed coat with dark leather gloves and what appears to be a fake gun.  
“Chanyeol, how can you look that good covered in smudged lipstick?” You ask, stepping outside with your bag.  
“How about you, though!”  
“I asked Minseok for help.” You explain, blushing. “I don’t want to look weird.”  
“No, you look perfect!” Chanyeol enthuses. “You’re an angel, right?”  
“Yep!” You’re wearing a white dress with silver shoes and a series of silver bangles, lipstick and glitter painted carefully across your cheeks. Minseok had even found you a white cape lined with gold that you’d tied around you, and you’d in turn found a white headband with a halo attached online.  
“Okay, let’s go! I have the car downstairs.”  
You make it to the party in a few minutes, Chanyeol chattering easily. But just as you’re about to walk into the party - through the back to avoid the photographers as much as possible - you stop him and turn to face him, hands shaking and twisting at the lace hem of your dress.  
“Chanyeol, I’m scared.”  
“Why?” He asks, and you can hear the concern in his voice.  
“It’s just... beyond those doors is a full room of idols who are infinitely more important and more talented than I am. And I’m just a dance teacher for the trainees.”  
“You teach dances to debuted groups too,” Chanyeol reminds you softly.  
“Yeah, but I’ve never been in a room with more than nine of you!”  
“And you’re going to do fine in a room with more than that.” Chanyeol interrupts firmly. “I’ll stay with you the whole night, I’ll introduce you to the idols, you can meet any you haven’t met and trust me, no one will look twice. You’re with me, okay? I’ll protect you. I didn’t fall in love with... I don’t know, Seulgi. I fell in love with you. And I know you’ll look more beautiful than anyone else in there. You’re just as important to me as they are. More so.”  
You nod, silenced. Chanyeol squeezes your hand gently. “I’ll be right here.”  
With that, you step into the party.  
The first people you see are Joohyun and Seungwan, dressed in matching dresses.  
“Joohyun!” Chanyeol calls. “Seungwan!”  
“Hello! We didn’t know you were coming too!” Joohyun welcomes you.  
“It’s so nice to see you! We haven’t seen you since August.” Seungwan smiles. “You’re one of the best teacher we have, you’d better not abandon us!”  
“I won’t,” You promise, laughing, instantly at ease. “Are all five of you devils or just you two?”  
“All five. We decided to match this year.” Seungwan explains. “We’re your worst enemies!”  
You laugh again as Joohyun pretends to hiss at you. “Get away!”  
“We’ll see you later, enemy!” Joohyun smiles as they make their way towards Yeri.  
“See?” Chanyeol says. “Everyone who’s ever met you loves you. You’re the best person out of everyone in the world. Number one. And you’re MY girlfriend.”  
You giggle at his goofy declaration and reach up on tiptoes to kiss him, leaving a glittery smudge on his joker smile.  
“Ooh, you’re glittery now!” You tut, and try to brush off some of the glitter.  
“Leave it there.” Chanyeol grabs your hand and holds it hostage. “Everyone will know that I kissed you.”  
“We’ve been kissing for ten months.” You joke. “If every person in this room doesn’t know that, then I’ll push you out of a window because you clearly haven’t talked lovingly about me enough.”  
Chanyeol bursts out laughing, and then Minseok and Baekhyun are rushing over to greet you excitedly, and Minseok is pointing in delight at the cape, and all you can think is “I’m going to be just fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chanyeol is this isn’t necessarily 2016 Chanyeol - it can be whenever you want - but Anna-who-I-write-this-for likes Chanyeol’s joker costume for Halloween 2016.


	4. Chapter 4

“Park Chanyeol, I swear to God...”  
You pace around the lounge of EXO’s dorm with the Kyungsoo. The rest of the members had gone downstairs but just the two of you remained, waiting for Chanyeol, who’s taking way too long to find something.   
“Chanyeol, whatever it is, buy it at the airport!” Kyungsoo yells.   
“I can’t! Come help me, Soo, it’s important!”  
“Ugh... fine!” Kyungsoo stalks into Chanyeol’s bedroom. There’s a muffled exchange of words and before another two minutes has passed, they’ve emerged.   
“You good?” You ask.  
“Yep!” Chanyeol says. “Let’s go!”

“So where exactly is it that we’re staying?” You ask in the car on the way to the airport.  
“A place called “Gioiello Baia.” It’s in Sorrento, but it’s hidden, so no fans can find it.” Junmyeon nods.   
“And the flight?”  
“Korea Air, leaving at 7.30 p.m.”  
“But it’s already 6.45!” You panic.   
“We’re special, though.” Jongin sighs happily. “We get instant board. No waiting in lounges, a wait for security no longer than it takes for the other members to go through the machine. We’re in and on the plane within half an hour.”  
“This is why I date you.” You poke Chanyeol, who gives you a wounded look that you comfort with a quick kiss. “I’m joking. Are you excited?”  
“Yeah!” Chanyeol replies instantly. “I’ve never been to Italy before. I looked the place up online and it looked beautiful.”  
“I wish we could go on more holidays together.” You squish your hand between Chanyeol and his arm and lean your head on his shoulder.   
“We can when we’re old.” He laughs, leaning his head on top of yours.   
“Where will we go?”  
“Everywhere.” Chanyeol promises. “I’ll find the most romantic places I can in every single country and take you to all of them.”  
Jongdae makes a retching sound.   
“What will we do?”  
Chanyeol smirks down at you. “I have some ideas.”  
Jongdae fake retches so hard he almost throws up.   
“Hey, don’t pretend you and Minseok don’t -“  
“OKAY!” Junmyeon yells over the two. “I’ve never been this pleased to say that we’re here.”  
You clamber out of the car, stretching your legs, and Chanyeol barely has time to collect his bag before you’re bouncing around him.  
“Why are you this excited?” He asks, bemused. “It’s just a flight. It’s the holiday afterwards that you should be excited for.”  
“Hey, it’s not often I get to go on an all-expenses-paid-by-Lee-Soo-Man trip to Italy with my boyfriend! I haven’t flown since I was eighteen.”  
“Do I have to deal with this excitement for a solid week?”  
“And three days after that when we go to visit our families for Christmas Eve.”  
“Oh, come on! I have to spend Christmas Eve, Christmas Day AND Boxing Day with you? How will I cope?” Chanyeol groans melodramatically.   
“Hey, mister!” You hit him lightly with a sweater paw. “We’re driving down to my parents’ for New Year too. You’d better get used to it.”  
“Awwww, no!”

The flight turns out to be a lot less brilliant when you find out it’s sixteen hours long.   
“Hey, we get to be in fancy seats, though!” Chanyeol tries. “Korean Air Prestige Class!”  
“Do I still get to annoy you?”You ask, grinning.   
“Nope. But we do get dinner, then we sleep, and then we wake up for landing in Naples!” Chanyeol bounces on the spot as you wait for security.  
“Next!”  
Chanyeol steps through the scanning machine and then so do you, going to join Jongdae, Junmyeon and Sehun on the other side.  
“Right, everyone, plane time!” Jongdae bounces through the machine. “I call dibs on the seat next to Minseok! Everyone swap seat numbers!”  
“Have you noticed anything?” Chanyeol whispers in your ear as you wait for the members.  
“You’re freakishly tall?”  
“I’m not freakishly tall! I’m just tall!”  
“Yes you are, you’re like a tree!” You push him lightly. “I could just climb up you.”  
“Hey!”  
Instead of climbing up him, you simply hug him from behind and poke your head between his chest and elbow. “What were you going to say?”  
Chanyeol extracts you and hugs you from the back, turning you to face the boys, and ducking his head to your ear.  
“What do you notice about Junmyeon and Sehunnie?”  
“Um...” You regard the aforementioned pair from a few metres away. “... Nothing?”  
“Trust me.” Chanyeol mutters in a low voice. “I’ve lived with and known these boys for a decade, if you include us as trainees. There’s something going on between those two.”  
“Really?” You ask sceptically. “Junmyeon’s just being Suho. Guardian.”  
“20,000 won says they fuck before the end of the holiday.”  
“Yeol!”  
“20,000 won.”  
“Yeah, okay. I don’t think anything’s going on, so get ready to pay up.”  
“Trust me.” Chanyeol nods with confidence. “If I have to engineer it myself, it’ll happen.”  
“Come on, plane time!” Jongdae repeats, and the ten of you - alongside EXO’s managers, who are staying in a smaller cottage a few minutes from the villa the rest of you are staying at - amble at varying speeds towards the gate.   
“This is your seat, ma’am.” The flight attendant smiles as she carries your hand luggage down the aisle for you.   
“Oh, thank you,” You smile back, taking your bag and settling into the seat.   
“There are a team of four of us dedicated exclusively to your party. We’ll be on hand at all times if you need anything.” Retreating back down the aisle, she leaves you and Chanyeol to stare around the plane in wonder. There are only twelve seats in this section - two rows of six - and you’re on the right, with Sehun and Junmyeon on the left and Baekhyun and Yixing in the middle, the rest of the members seated behind you. Screens can be pulled up for privacy, and Chanyeol winks cheekily as he runs his thumb across the plastic.   
“Hey, I’m not doing it on a plane,” You protest, holding back a grin. “I have standards.”  
“No you don’t, you’re dating Chanyeol,” Baekhyun calls, and you reach back in an attempt to hit him.   
“Can everyone please take their seats for takeoff?” The flight attendant calls over the announcement system. You all sit obediently down and you bask for a moment in the glory of being able to stretch out your legs. Chanyeol’s legs already take over most of the space, but you don’t mind. You aren’t that tall anyway.   
As the flight attendants go through the safety briefing, you’re hit with a burst of anxiety.   
“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asks, concerned.   
“Yeah - I’m just a bit scared. I don’t like takeoff that much.”  
“Are you okay flying?”  
“Once I get up there.” You take a deep breath. “I’ll be fine. Just hold my hand.”  
“I’ll protect you if we die.” Chanyeol says comfortingly, then winces. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to -“  
“It’s fine, don’t worry. I know what you meant.” You smile reassuringly, feeling your heart thumping in your throat.   
The plane engines speed up until you feel a slight bump and the force of takeoff pushes you into your seat. Chanyeol wraps a protective arm around you, despite your protests that he can’t possibly be comfortable, but you accept and take deep breaths until the plane levels out and you can relax.   
“You okay now?” Chanyeol checks, worried.   
“I’m okay now.” You confirm, running a hand through your hair and settling into your seat. “Time for sixteen hours of plane.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we hope you had an enjoyable flight and thank you for flying Korea Air. The local time in Naples, Italy is 3.30 P.M. Please wait patiently to exit the plane.”  
You stand up, stretching your leg into the aisle over Chanyeol’s.   
“Italy!” Baekhyun squeals from behind you. “Italy Italy Italy!”  
“Alright, Baek,” Yixing rubs his eyes. “You’ve been chanting that under your breath for ten minutes now.”  
“It’ll take us an hour to drive down to the house.” Chanyeol yawns. “But we get to see a whole lot of Italy as we go!”  
“Come on then! It almost doesn’t feel real yet.” You admit, squeezing through the aisle. Even the heat emanating from the open doors seems just too good to be true. You breath in the warm air, a sharp contrast between a freezing Korean winter and an Italian one.  
“Look! Is that a lime tree?” Baekhyun babbles excitedly behind you. “Look! An orange tree!”  
You make your way quickly through the airport, rushed towards a set of cars on the other side. You keep your head down as the fans swarm as close as the can to the boys, but Chanyeol keeps a firm hand in yours.   
“I didn’t know we had fans in Italy!” Yixing remarks.  
“We have fans all over the world, you know that.” Junmyeon laughs. “Now get in the cars.”   
You all clamber into the seats, taking photos of the flat-topped trees and bright sunlight casting over the grass. You spend the whole journey chattering about the scenery, the glimpses of the sea that become even more frequent as the journey wears on, the sun filtering into the car and casting shadows.  
“Look! You can see the whole world from this road!”  
“Look! There’s an Italian cat!”  
“It’s just a cat - Sehun, look at that tree!”  
“Are we at the house yet?”  
Eventually the sea becomes a prominent feature in the view, and a house comes into the distance.   
“That’s it!” Junmyeon points out of the window. Leaving the car to a series of stretched and aching legs, you can see a large white villa, a roof of faded red tile, in what looks to be a cove. As you approach, you can see that the two cliffs either side shelter a small beach, barely two minutes walk from the house, the sea bright blue against the pale sand.   
“There are five bedrooms.” Junmyeon explains. “Three doubles and two singles. You four -“ he points to Chanyeol and you, as well as Minseok and Jongdae - “Will be sleeping in doubles, obviously, but who doesn’t mind sharing a double?”  
“I don’t mind.” Sehun answers quickly. “I share a room with you anyway.”  
Chanyeol gives you a pointed look, and you elbow him in the ribs.  
“That’s settled then. Soo, Jongin, Baek and Yixing, organise who’ll go with who. We all need to shower after that journey, but all rooms are ensuite.”  
You all split into pairs as you run around the house, acquainting yourselves with where the rooms are and bagging bedrooms before others can get to them. At once stage, you leave Chanyeol to duck into the kitchen and find Kyungsoo almost dancing at the sight of shelves full of ingredients and cookery books, and then Baekhyun actually dancing by the pool with Sehun.   
“We have an infinity pool! And a jacuzzi! And a private beach!” Baekhyun squeals when he sees you. “And I think that’s a barbecue, and we have a private beach!”  
“You said private beach twice.” You point out, struggling not to jump around yourself.   
“That just proves how excited I am!” Baekhyun practically throws off his shoes and rolls up his jeans as far as they can go. “I’m going to put my feet in the pool!”  
“Not yet!” Junmyeon yells from the lounge as his toes touch the water. “Shower first! We don’t want dirt to get in the nice posh pool!”  
Baekhyun whines. “Noooo!”  
“The quicker you shower, the quicker you can get in.” Junmyeon points out, and Baekhyun runs so quickly back into the house that the only sign of his presence is a few stray water droplets.   
“Water’s warm.” You say appreciatively to Chanyeol as he wanders outside, you flopped on a sun lounger by the edge. “You can shower first if you want, I take longer to wash my hair.”  
Chanyeol stretches and puts his arm around you, flopping down onto the chair with you.   
“God, that was so cheesy.” You mutter, shaking your head with a smile. The slowly setting sun casts a pink glow over the water, and the horizon of the ocean seems to light up with shades of orange.  
“Go on, go shower.” You poke him. “I want to get in the pool.”  
“Why do we have to shower?”  
“To appease Junmyeon,” You tease. “He says we aren’t allowed to get plane dirt in the pool.”  
“Come with me?” Chanyeol makes puppy-dog eyes and bites his lip enticingly.  
A smile spreads across your face. “Okay.”

You take turns washing your hair under the warm spray of the shower, and when you close your eyes against the water to rinse your hair, Chanyeol leans forwards to press a kiss to your mouth, instantly regretting it.   
“Ugh, shampoo in mouth!” He garbles.   
You burst out laughing. “You living failure.”  
Chanyeol gives you evil side eye as he desperately spits out shampoo, filling his mouth with water and spitting it back down the drain.   
“Hot.” You smirk sarcastically. “Really attractive.”  
“Shut up.” Chanyeol spits once more and shudders. “You’ll be sorry if I die.”  
“It’s shampoo, and you spat all you licked up and more out. You won’t die.” You finish rinsing the soap from your scalp and go to turn off the water.   
“Wait.” Chanyeol leans over you and presses his mouth to yours. “I didn’t get to do that properly.”  
“Aren’t I lucky?” You mumble into his mouth, breaking away with a smirk. “I’m the Lucky One, I guess.”  
“Oh for -“ Chanyeol shakes his head with a grin. “Don’t do this again.”  
“You Monster!” You pout.  
“No...” Chanyeol warns.  
“Unfair! Don’t be a Playboy!”  
“If I kiss you, will it shut you up?”  
“You want My Answer?”  
Chanyeol kisses you harder this time, letting his hands push down your arms and onto your lower back.   
“I just hit the Lotto.” You try to hide your grin.   
“Don’t.” Chanyeol says in a low voice, smirking. “Or I might have to pin you down to stop you talking.”  
“Promise me that, at least.” You say quietly, reaching forwards to press your mouths together again. The noise of appreciation he makes echoes in the tiled walls of the shower and you break away, hushing him from frantically.  
“Who cares?” He asks, smiling lazily. “Let them hear. Minseok and Jongdae are probably doing the same.”  
You suppress a giggle.  
“You seem shy.” Chanyeol comments in a low voice. “This is uncharacteristic of you.”  
“We’re in someone else’s house!”  
“It’s ours for the week.”  
“I guess so. But -“  
“No buts.” Chanyeol grins firmly. “Shall we?”  
“Absolutely.”  
Your mouths collide for a third time, your back hitting the tiles. You let your fingers trace over the smooth muscle of his arms, dropping to his shoulders, but he removes his hands from the wall behind you and takes your hands to press them there instead.  
“You do that every time.” You laugh into his kiss.  
“You ask me to.”  
You don’t deny it.   
Chanyeol switches his hands so he’s holding both of yours in one, trapped underneath his fingers, and uses the other one to tip your head further back. He traces it across the corner of your jaw, tangling his fingers into your hair as he goes.   
“Yeol -“  
A finger on your mouth stops you. “I know.” He answers simply, and starts to push his hand down your back. 

You join the boys in the pool a bit later, the last two to arrive. It’s barely six o’clock but the stars dot the sky in hundreds of tiny patterns, and the moon is the only light offered.  
“Why did you two take so long?” Baekhyun whines. “Jongin bought out beers but we weren’t allowed any until you guys came.”  
Jongdae elbows him in the rib and snickers. “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear them?”  
Baekhyun’s eyes widen. “Oof - OH! Sorry!”  
There’s a round of laughter and the two of you slip into the water, Junmyeon passing round the drinks a second later.   
“Does anyone want to come down to the beach with me?” Yixing asks. “I want to explore.”  
Minseok and Sehun nod and wade to the side, pulling themselves onto the deck after Yixing.   
“I’ll go as well!” Baekhyun calls. “Wait for me!”  
The four of them run down the sand and into the ocean, the rest of you laughing as the sounds of their shrieks filter back up the beach.   
“The water’s freezing at night.” Kyungsoo grinned. “I went down earlier. I wasn’t going to say anything.”  
“Evil Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol laughs, then hides behind you with a squeal. Kyungsoo darts forwards and pushes him underwater for a second, leaving him spluttering.   
“Hey Kyungsoo! Don’t kill him, we need him alive.” Jongdae remarks idly. “He’s quite useful.”  
You giggle, hitting him on the back as he coughs. “Yeah, I like him.”

It’s midnight before you and Chanyeol go down to the beach, him and the rest of the members running wildly into the freezing water as you only dare to wade in up to your ankles.   
“Come on!” Chanyeol yells. “Aren’t you coming in more?”  
“It’s freezing!” You call back. “I’m not going any deeper!”  
“Yes you are!” Chanyeol insists. “I’m going to make you!”  
You squeal and run as fast as you can up the beach, but his long legs catch up and he grabs you from behind, racing back into the ocean with you half-screaming, half-laughing, bridal style in his arms.  
“Yeol! NO! Park Chanyeol I swear - AAAAAAA!”  
You hit the water, still in his grip, and scream as the cold sea splashes your skin. The sea is up to Chanyeol’s stomach when he stops, laughing so much he almost drops you, and you scramble up onto his shoulders so only your feet dangle down.   
“Hey, you’ll squash me!” Chanyeol complains.   
“Think of it as payback.” You retort. “When we get back to dry land, you’re getting me one of your hoodies and some of my warm leggings.”  
“And fluffy socks?” Chanyeol asks, grinning up at you.   
“You know me so well. Now back to land, before my feet fall off from cold!”  
Chanyeol stays true to his word and gets the required items, but you shun the socks in favour of walking back down to the sand and standing, wrapped in Chanyeol’s arms, who’s also in one of his hoodies and some shorts, staring out to sea.   
“You know that necklace?” Chanyeol asks.   
“This one?” You ask, lifting it from under his hoodie, and feel him nod. “I only took it off to swim.”  
“I went back to the shop to see if they had... something similar.” Chanyeol steps back and turns you around, taking a deep breath.   
“Hell, I wasn’t going to do this yet, but why not?”  
“Yeol?” You ask suspiciously. “What were you not going to do yet?”  
“I wasn’t going to do this until I was back from... yeah, but that’s two years away and I don’t know I can wait that long. I’m going soon, and when I next see you we’ll have been together for three years. And there’s no time like the present, is there?”  
“Yeol...”  
“So I went back to the shop, and I saw this.”  
Chanyeol takes a little box out of his pocket.   
“And an idea came into mind.”  
Chanyeol pops open the box. There’s a beautiful ring inside, a simple silver band with two diamonds ringed in the same metal; an infinity sign, you realise. But you realise this perhaps later than you should, because Chanyeol has just gone down on one knee in the sand.   
“You’ve been mine for almost a year now, and I want to spend the rest of my life with someone who’s going to laugh at my bad jokes, and go on long walks with Toben, and try to teach me girl group dances, and protect me from Kyungsoo, and stop me from dropping everything and anything I pick up, and talk with at two a.m. until I can’t speak any more. And the only person I want to do that with is you.”  
The tears rolling down your face are matched on his own cheeks, and his voice cracks when he says your name.  
“Will you please marry me?”  
He’s barely finished the sentence before you speak.  
“Of course I will, you idiot, did you really think I’d say no?”  
Chanyeol slides the ring onto your finger as the wind whips a little further into the ocean, and the crashing of waves is overshadowed by the thuds of your heartbeat reverberating around your brain as Chanyeol stands up to kiss you, in a way that’s no different to any other kiss he’s ever given you but one that now feels even more special.  
“We have to tell the members!” You say excitedly, wiping away your tears.   
“Ehh, they all know anyway. Junmyeon’s hiding, taking photos from the deck. Let’s just stay here for a moment.” Chanyeol pulls you back into his hug and kisses the top of your head.   
“They know? Is the ring what Soo helped you find before we left?”  
Chanyeol nods sheepishly, grinning.   
“You idiot.” You giggle, leaning your head into his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I can’t write smut and I’ve had a really busy week don’t kill me leave kudos instead


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So turns out mental breakdowns still happen to me sometimes and that’s why I haven’t touched this in like three weeks but enjoy!

“Good morning, future wife.” Chanyeol stretches out a few days after and almost rolls off the bed.   
“Hey! Careful!” You laugh, grabbing his shirt to pull him back. “Don’t fall off.”  
“Thank you, future wife.” Chanyeol reaches over to smother your face in little kisses.   
“No, get off! Urgh! Yeol!” You push him away, giggling hysterically as he attacks your cheeks.   
“Didn’t you like my kisses, future wife?”  
“Are you going to call me that with every sentence now?”  
“Maybe...” Chanyeol smirks. You raise your eyebrow. “... future wife.”  
You use all of your strength and push him even further away, letting him fall off the bed with a shout of surprise. “You deserve to fall off the bed. No more kisses for Yeol.”  
You hear Chanyeol whine from the floor, and lean over the side of the mattress. He uses the opportunity to grab your shoulders and yank you down on top of him.   
“Hey! Unfair!”  
“Tough!” Chanyeol declares, and starts to kiss all over your face again.

“So what are we doing for our last day in _Italia_?” Baekhyun asks later, shovelling breakfast into his mouth.   
“Baekhyun, slowly.” Kyungsoo tuts. “You’ll hurt your stomach.”  
Baekhyun hits him and starts eating faster.   
“I thought we could just stay on the beach. We’ve been all around the town, we’ve been dragged into every shop -“ everyone shoots a resentful grimace at you and Baekhyun - “- But we haven’t spent a full day on the beach since our first day here.”  
“Junmyeon said he wanted to climb the cliffs either side of the house.” Minseok interjects.   
“Where is he?” Kyungsoo mutters. “And where’s Sehun?”  
Jongin looks around. “I’ll go look for them. They might still be asleep.”  
You hit Chanyeol when he turns and wiggles his eyebrows. “Guess what I’m thinking?”  
“Don’t be like that! They’ll just be sleeping late.”  
“It’s eleven a.m. Junmyeon doesn’t sleep that late.”  
You open your mouth to reply but are cut off by a hushed squeal from Jongin, who’s running back into the room.   
“Guys, I think something happened!”  
“What?!”  
“I KNEW it!” Chanyeol yells, pointing down at you. “I fucking KNEW it!”  
“What do you mean?” You ask, pushing Chanyeol out of the way.   
“They’re shirtless, asleep, cuddled up, and I’m pretty sure Sehun’s naked.”  
“No way! That our job!” Minseok complains, poking Jongdae.   
“Are you serious?” Yixing asks.  
“Yes! Come see! Well, maybe not you.” Jongin grimaces at you. “We’ve seen it all before, you might not want to.”  
“I’ll just take your word for it.” You sigh. “But I’m not believing anything until they confirm it.”  
“Same.” Kyungsoo nods. “I have a bet with Jongin that they didn’t.”  
“I have a bet with Yeol!” You laugh. “Looks like those two might have won.”  
“Yep, they’re definitely guilty.” The others reply, returning with huge grins.   
“Sehun and Myeon!” Baekhyun squeals. “That’s so adorable!”  
Kyungsoo groans. “Jongin put 20,000 won on them...”  
“Not until they confirm.” You remind him.   
You sit back down to carry on eating and wait for the two to wake up.

“Morning,” You hear about half an hour later.   
“Morning.” Everyone replies.   
“So where’s Sehun?” Jongdae asks casually, a cheeky smile spreading across his cheeks. Junmyeon blushes and sits down.   
“He’s still washing up.”  
“I think we know why.” Jongin mutters, grinning. Everyone stifles their laughter.   
“Yes, okay, okay, _maybe_ something happened, but it wasn’t - I mean - we didn’t -“  
“You didn’t?” Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows.   
“Okay, _maybe_ we did, but -“  
“AHA! Pay up, woman!” Chanyeol holds out his hand, as Kyungsoo slams a few notes into a beaming Jongin’s palm.  
“You - wait, you had - you had bets?”  
“I won a bet with Soo that you’d confess before the end of the week. They had a bet you’d fuck.” Jongin points.   
“Wait, what?” Sehun enters the room and stands, looking scared, behind Yixing.   
“Sehun! Congratulations. Come and sit down, we need to know what went down.”  
“Wait, you told them?!” Sehun yells at Junmyeon.  
“Trust me, Sehunnie, we already knew.” Yixing pats his hand soothingly. “Jongin went to wake you guys up and saw.”  
“Oh my god.”  
“You were asleep!” Jongin adds hastily. “I didn’t see any - yeah -“  
Sehun hides his face in his hands.  
“Sehunnie, don’t worry!” Minseok rushes to hug him. “No one thinks badly of you. It’s just like when Jongdae and I first got together.”  
“Are you sure?” Sehun asks, voice muffled by his palms.  
“Of course.” Minseok rubs his back. “Now eat something, you must be hungry.”  
“I don’t want to.”  
“Eat, Sehunnie.”  
“I’m not hungry.”  
“Sehun...” Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows.   
“Come on, Sehunnie, eat something for me.” Junmyeon tempts him.   
“Okay.”  
“I think we should leave these two alone. It’s going to get mushy.” Jongin pokes Junmyeon. “We’ll be on the beach.”  
“Hey, Yeol -“  
You and Chanyeol turn back to look at Sehun, who’s bright pink.   
“We aren’t overshadowing you, are we? I mean, you just got engaged a few days ago -“  
“No, Sehunnie.” You shake your head and smile. “We’re all very happy for you. You aren’t overshadowing us at all.”  
Sehun gives a small smile too and takes the bowl Junmyeon gives him.   
“We’ll join you in a bit.”

The seven other boys run around on the beach, splashing each other, while you lie on the sand and read.   
“Are you coming in? It’s warm!” Chanyeol tempts you. You laugh and stretch out.   
“Sure!”   
You wander to the edge of the ocean and dip a tentative toe in the wave that splashes towards you.   
“Hey, watch this!” Chanyeol throws himself sideways into the water just as another wave rolls towards you, creating a small explosion of seawater. Jongdae follows, and even Kyungsoo stands on Jongin’s shoulders to dive headfirst into the spray.   
“Hey, I found a stick!” Baekhyun yells. “Look! It’s huge!”  
“Simple things.” You mutter to a soaked Chanyeol, who bursts out laughing and runs towards Baekhyun.  
“It’s almost as big as you!”  
Baekhyun takes an almost-gladiatorial stance and fake-glares at him. “Fight me, Park!”  
“I need to find a stick too!” Chanyeol complains as Baekhyun pokes him. Baekhyun stops and thinks, then slams the stick into the ground. It breaks in half as Yixing yelps, only just dodging the flying bark.   
“Here!” Baekhyun hands Chanyeol one half.   
“How come you get the bigger half?” Chanyeol whines.   
“You’re twelve feet tall.” Baekhyun points out. “You have size on your side.”  
“You’re like a monkey!”  
You leave the two to bicker and find Minseok standing at the water’s edge.   
“‘Sup, Minnie?”  
“Aish, I don’t know.”  
You reach to lean your chin on his shoulder.   
“I’m scared.” He admits. “I’m the oldest, I have to help Junmyeon look after everyone and get them ready for enlistment, but I’m scared too.”  
“I know, Min.”  
There’s nothing you can really do to comfort him, so you stand there until Chanyeol yells you both back over.   
“Watch this! I’m going to do the Lightsaber dance with the stick!”  
You all laugh as Chanyeol throws the stick around, completely failing any attempt at choreography and shrieking when he lets go of it accidentally. Kyungsoo and Yixing duck instinctively, and it thuds onto the sand nearby.   
“No more stick dancing!” Junmyeon yells as he hurried down the sand, pulling Sehun by the hand.   
“I doubt either of you said that last night!” Baekhyun quips, beaming at his joke while the rest of you yell complaints. “What, hey, that was funny!”

The ten of you lie on the sand an hour later, your faces turned towards the sun and your feet repeatedly swallowed by the waves.   
“We should come here again.” Junmyeon’s voice floats across from where he’s laid, hands intertwined with Sehun’s.   
“Yeah.”  
“Once it’s all over.”  
“We’ll come back for another break.”  
“All ten of us.”  
“Yeah.”  
Chanyeol rolls over and pulls you into his arms.   
“I’m sorry.”  
“What? Why?”  
“We just got engaged, and we can’t spent time planning the wedding together.”  
“We don’t need to.” You squeeze his hand. “When you’re home, when you visit for a couple of days, then we can. And when you come back, we can plan as much as we like.”  
“That’s okay?”  
“That’s more than okay.” You kiss him. “You have things that you need to do. I’m not going to blame you for it.”  
“You should start planning soon.”  
You giggle. “I may have seen some very pretty wedding dresses. And a couple of bridesmaid dresses.”  
“Can we be your bridesmaids?” Minseok asks.   
“Nope, you’re being my groomsmen.” Chanyeol points at him.   
“My best friends will be my bridesmaids.” You laugh. “But I’d love to see you in dresses.”  
“Junmyeon’s already done it.”  
“Hey, most of us have!”  
“Please make Chanyeol wear the dress he wore pre-debut.”  
“Ooh, can I wear my wig from The One?”

When you arrive back in Korea, you say goodbye to all of the other members in the lounge of the empty dorm. The boxes of the members’ possessions are already gone, put away into storage. The boys aren’t going to see each other again until enlistment in a few days, and the grim atmosphere in the room could be cut with a knife.   
Eight cars wait outside; Sehun, Junmyeon, Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin, Kyungsoo are going home to their families alone, while you’re joining Chanyeol (and in turn your own parents next door) and Yixing is joining Baekhyun to see his grandmother before returning to China in a month to release more solo music there.  
“I’m going to miss you all.” You sniffle.   
“We’ll see them again before they leave.” Yixing comforts you.   
“I know, but... I mean, just...”  
“Yeah, I know.” Junmyeon smiles. A nearly crying Baekhyun has his arms around you so tight Chanyeol can hardly reach you but Yixing puts a hand soothingly on your back.   
“I’ll come back from China to visit regularly, I promise. You’ll have a little part of EXO with you every few months.”  
“Hey, don’t get too happy with my future wife,” Chanyeol jokes through budding tears.   
“I won’t.” Yixing grins. “She’s too good for me anyway.”  
Everyone laughs. “Thanks, Yixing.” You giggle.   
“Okay, time to go.” The manager orders sympathetically. Everyone files out of the empty dorm, not before wiping tears and reapplying makeup to hide red circles. The ten of you climb into cars, and start the long journey home to family.   
“We can drop in at your house to make sure everything’s okay there.” Chanyeol suggests. “Make sure it’s still locked up and stuff.”  
“Okay.” You agree. Chanyeol says a few quick words to the driver and the car turns left instead of right.   
You both head up to your apartment and unlock the door to have a quick look around. Everything is exactly how you’d left it, and Chanyeol stands in the lounge to press a kiss to your mouth before you leave again.  
“Look that way.” Chanyeol grins and points down the hallway as you lock the door.  
“Why?” You ask, confused.   
“I want to do something.”  
You huff and turn away. You hear your letterbox open and close, and then Chanyeol’s hand slips into yours.   
“What was that?” You ask curiously.  
“You aren’t allowed to see until you get back.” Chanyeol pokes your cheek. “Now come on.”  
You make your way back downstairs and outside, into the car, and away to your families.

“I’m not letting you come with me later.” Chanyeol whispers into the morning light of his childhood bedroom as you lie wrapped up in his arms, three days afterwards.  
“What?” You pull back.   
“When we leave, you can come to see the members at the station, but I’m not letting you or Yixing come in the cars to the base to say goodbye there. We’re say goodbye to you and Yixing again in another private room at the station, and then we’re getting in the cars and you two are going home.”  
“Why? No!”  
“Listen.” Chanyeol sits up and pulls you back into his embrace. “When we get there, we’re going to have our heads shaved, portrait photos taken, we’re going to be put in uniform and sent off into groups, or something. I don’t want you to see that.”  
“I -“  
“No.” Chanyeol’s voice breaks. “If anything happens - and I DON’T mean it will - I don’t want your last memory of me to be shaved head, sitting to have a portrait taken in case I die.”  
You’re crying, but it isn’t from anything other than sheer frustration and upset. You furiously wipe away your tears. “Chanyeol!”  
“No.” Chanyeol holds you tight, sat up in bed, bathed in the glow of the breaking sunrise, and all you can do is helplessly agree.   
“Okay.” You murmur into his chest. “Okay.”  
“Okay?”  
“Okay.”  
“I love you.”  
“I love you too.” You sniffle.   
“Are you going to go and stay with your parents for a bit?”  
“For a night.”  
“They’ll take good care of you.” Chanyeol presses a kiss to your forehead. “We should go to breakfast.”  
You nod weakly and stand up.   
“It’s going to be okay.” Chanyeol stands up too. “I promise. Everything will be okay.”

  
The next day, you leave your parents’ house and return home to find a rose was pushed through your letterbox. The attached note reads: “I’ll love you until this rose wilts.”  
You feel the flower again. It’s a fabric rose.

The next week, the first of Chanyeol’s letters arrives at your apartment, a small sheet of paper with his scrawling characters covering the page.   
You send him one back the same night, with a Polaroid photo of the sky from the top of the building, at a perfect moment just before sunset. Your hand is outstretched, your engagement ring shining orange from the shades of the sky and the rose between your fingers.

The next month, once he’s finished training, he sends you a photo of himself in his uniform, saluting the camera, a smile spread across his face.   
You put it with the rose and go to take another picture of the sky.


	6. Chapter 6

“Argh! I’ve been attacked!” Chanyeol yells as your daughter runs straight into his chest, giggling wildly. “I’ve been attacked by a monkey!”  
You follow her into the lounge. The two year old is indeed dressed in a little monkey onesie with her hair in two little braids, and Chanyeol is now blowing raspberries onto each of her cheeks as Toben runs around his feet, barking excitedly.   
“Are you ready for bed, monkey?” Chanyeol flops backwards against the back of the sofa with her cradled in his arms.   
“No! Not bed!” She insists, shaking her head and folding her arms in an aegyo to rival her father’s.   
“Jae-Yu...” Chanyeol folds his arm back and leaves her sat on his knees, sticking out his bottom lip.   
“You dork.” You mutter to him, laughing, as you reach over to lift her off of his lap and into your arms. “Yu-yu, time for bed now, okay? Say goodnight to your dada.”  
Jae shakes her head obstinately, but you simply lean down enough for Chanyeol to place kisses all over her little face, making her laugh, and then take her to put her back in bed.  
“Can we go to Daddy’s friend’s house tomorrow, Mummy?”  
“I’ll have to ask your daddy.” You press a small kiss to her forehead and smile indulgently.   
“I want to see Uncle Mee and Uncle Min And Uncle Dae and Uncle Se and Uncle -“  
“Okay, okay, you don’t need to list them all,” You chide, smiling, but she continues.   
“- Baek and Uncle Soo and Uncle Yix and-“  
“Yu-yu, time for sleep.”  
“- Uncle Nini and all the doggies and the cat -“  
“Only if you go to sleep right now.”  
Jae-Yu closes her eyes instantly and makes a noise you think is supposed to be a snore. You laugh quietly and exit, leaving her bedroom door slightly open.   
When you return, Chanyeol is frowning at something on his phone. Toben lifts his head sleepily from his bed in the corner.   
“What’s up?”  
“Oh, Manager just emailed. We’re having a meeting tomorrow.”  
“About?”   
“I think it’s a possible comeback.”  
“About time! You’ve been off for eight months at least, and there’s only been seven comebacks since you got back from service three years ago.”  
“I know, it’s exciting, but I’ll be away a lot. And I don’t want to be away from you and Jae-Yu too long.”  
“It’s fine! I’m sure they’ll take that into account. You’re the only one with a kid anyway and it won’t drain them of much to let you go home for two days or so in between shows or whatever.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“They did with the comeback you had just before I six months pregnant. They let you come home to visit me and they let you miss the last three performances because Jae-Yu was on her way.”   
“I guess so.” Chanyeol put his phone face down on the floor and let you curl your feet under his legs. Flicking on the TV, he pulled you in closer and yawned, his jaw cracking.  
“When are we going to tell the rest of the band that we’re having another one?”  
“I was thinking we could tomorrow.”  
“Good, Yu wants to go and she can’t keep her mouth shut much longer.”  
“We have to, or you’ll start to show. You started showing at sixteen weeks with Jae and you’re almost that now.”  
You smile slightly, remembering the netizen articles discussing if you were hiding a baby under your newly loosened workout clothes.   
“Are you excited?”  
“Hm?”  
“For the baby.”  
“Scared,” Chanyeol admits. “I don’t want to be a bad father to two children instead of one.”  
“You’re an amazing dad.” You answer, smacking him lightly on the wrist. “You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?”  
“We’ve been married three years. We have a two year old daughter and another one on the way. It’s a bit late to ask that.” Chanyeol teases. “No, I’m not having second thoughts. I’m just nervous. It was worse with Jae-Yu, I’d never been around many babies before.”  
“We did it before, we can do it again. And it’s not as though Jae-Yu was the easiest of babies...”  
Chanyeol laughs and kisses your forehead. “We’ll go round the dorm tomorrow, tell everyone. Minseok and Jongdae’s engagement has only been public for a little while so we won’t publicise Peanut yet, but we can in a couple of weeks.”

“Uncle Nini! Uncle Nini!” Jae chants, running into Jongin’s arms the next morning. He scoops her up and carries her around the room on his back, pretending to growl. “Uncle Nini issa bear!”  
“Hello,” Minseok bows and kisses you in the cheek. “How’s the little one?”  
Your eyes widen: he can’t possibly know!  
“Jae-Yu’s okay now, she’s over her cold.” Chanyeol interrupts, poking you in the back to stop you from speaking and allowing Toben to run off to find the members’ dogs. You breathe a sigh of relief when Minseok smiles and nods. He doesn’t know.   
After hellos, Jongin collapses onto the sofa with Jae on his lap.  
“Am I your favourite, Yu-yu?” He asks. Jae shakes her head and Jongin drops open his mouth in fake-shock. “Who is then?”  
“Daddy.” Jae replies. “I like him best in the world!”  
You squeak a protest, but Jae has launched herself into Junmyeon, now chanting: “Uncle Mee! Uncle Mee!”  
“Jae-Yu, be gentle. Why don’t you tell everyone what you’re going to be in a few months?”  
“Are you going to be three?” Jongdae asks, smiling, thinking he knows the answer.  
“No, gon’ be a big sister.”  
There’s a beat of silence, and then Jongdae lets out a shriek of delight. Jae claps her hands to her ears and squeezes her eyes shut.   
“You’re having another one?!” Everyone squeals, reduced instantly to children at the news.   
You both nod, beaming. “In six months.”  
“I’m so happy for you guys!” Baekhyun starts almost sobbing. “Name it Baekhyun.”  
“No, we don’t know what we’re going to name it.” You confess, smiling, and get up to hug each of them.   
“And Mummy and Daddy are gon’ love us the same amount.” Jae announces. “They said so.”  
“I’ll love you both the same amount too!” Jongin whisks her away from Junmyeon. “But I’ll still be your bear.”  
Jae nods, pleased, and is quickly squashed in a hug and then rescued by Jongin and Chanyeol.  
“Are you excited?” Kyungsoo asks.   
“So excited.” You answer. “Yixing, I haven’t hugged you yet!”  
“Uncle Min, where’s Kitty?” Jae tugs on Minseok’s leg to get his attention.  
“Tan’s in the kitchen. Be gentle, Sehun’s doggy scared him this morning.” Minseok shoots a playful warning glare at Sehun, who pushes him into the sofa.

 

 __  
“BLESSED” - PARK CHANYEOL  
South Korean rapper and member of group EXO announced on Monday that his wife had given birth on Sunday. Describing their arrival in an Instagram post as healthy, their new baby is a sibling to three year old Park Jae-Yu.   
The rapper wrote in his post: “We feel truly blessed to have welcomed our healthy little boy on Sunday evening at 18.12. Jae-Yu has already met him and we cannot wait to take him home. Thank you for all your well wishes and we will post more pictures of him soon.”  
The baby’s name is yet to be confirmed but is rumoured to be Park Jae Hyun.

Chanyeol reads the article out to you as you both lie in a rare moment of quiet. You’re taking your son home in the morning and while he lies asleep beside you, you look over to Chanyeol and see him almost half-asleep as well. Jae-Hyun was three days old and you doubted Chanyeol had slept much more than three hours in that time - he’d spent most of his time staring, as you did, at your baby boy.   
“Did you call Jongin?” You ask, yawning.   
“Yeah. Jae-Yu is fine, don’t worry. She’s been no trouble. Jongin and Kyungsoo are still sleeping on the sofa bed so she has her own bed.”  
“I bet she loves that.” You shut your eyes, and open them a second later when Chanyeol says your name.  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m happy.”  
You can’t stop a smile from cracking your face in two. “I’m happy too.”  
Chanyeol squeezes your hand, kisses your forehead and sings a line from Universe into your hair.

“I won’t let go, even the smallest memories, memories engraved in the seasons.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That took me way longer than I anticipated. 
> 
> I showed this to Anna (in case you forgot, the gal I wrote this for) like a week ago and said I’d maybe write some more in this chapter but I didn’t so it was a little shorter than usual but to be honest I’m just glad it’s published cos I can do more on my Xiuchen one...
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it, and I’m hoping to remember to start a random PCY/OC drabble work to put the random shit I write for Anna in there. 
> 
> Fun fact: How Jae tells EXO she’s going to be a big sister is how I told my gran (aged twenty months) that my mother was having another baby so we know where the inspiration for that came from
> 
> Thank you!!

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudos and comment, I need validation


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